explanted

Explanted is the past participle and adjective form of explant. In biology and medicine, it describes tissue, organs, or devices that have been removed from their original site.

In medical contexts, explantation is the surgical removal of implanted devices or formerly implanted tissues. Examples include pacemakers, cochlear implants, breast implants, artificial joints, and hernia meshes. Reasons include device malfunction, infection, adverse immune reaction, device upgrade, patient choice, or cancer risk. The procedure typically requires anesthesia and imaging guidance; surgeons carefully dissect surrounding scar tissue and extract devices with their anchors. Recovery varies and may span days to weeks.

In laboratory settings, explant refers to tissue or organ fragment used to initiate in vitro culture. Plant explants such as leaf discs or stem tips are sterilized and placed on culture media with hormones to induce regeneration. Animal explants may be cultured to study tissue with preserved architecture (ex vivo). The explant concept also appears in cancer and regenerative medicine research, where small tissue pieces are studied outside the body for shorter-term experiments and observations.

Etymology: from Latin ex- “out” and planta “sprout.” Explanted is used as both a noun and an adjective in scientific writing to describe materials or tissue removed from a living subject.